I've done just 10 days in Ukraine on business, nearly 3 years ago, installing computers in the BBC office in Kyiv, so I'm not an expert on the current state of the Ukrainian economy. However, only the richest part (Podil) of the capital city showed a prosperity just about equal to Prague a couple of years after the fall of Communism (1989, so e.g. 1991-2): with Ukraine, we are dealing with an obviously quite poor country, even on the world scale.
It's not their fault, and most of the people I met seemed very good types: wanting an independent Ukraine to overcome all the worst aspects of its past, very much including antisemitism. However, real 'business' types could seem a bit sinister, and it was interesting that they and more ordinary working-class people (e.g. electricians) seemed to use Russian almost exclusively: Ukrainian seemed rather a language for journalists like my colleagues, teachers and public announcements. That will be much less the case in Czernowitz or other western locations in the country, indeed it may not be a factor at all.
That the state of local medicine is well behind its counterparts in richer countries (e.g. even the Czech Republic or Slovenia) shouldn't surprise anyone. It may be one of several factors making it too early for dis-emigration to be a sensible option for most people!
Charles Polak
mailto:charles.polak_at_bbc.co.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-78608291-3499287_at_list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-78608291-3499287_at_list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Abraham Kogan
Sent: 2 April 2013 17:15
To: Czernowitz-L_at_cornell.edu; Fleming Cornel
Subject: FW: [Cz-L] Looking East
The following is the most authoritative description of the situation in Cz.
Whoever is planning to travel to Cz. should bring with him/her enough drugs
and other first aid stuff.
Abraham K.
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Received on 2013-04-02 13:10:37
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